'Agreed,' said he, or leastwise he didn't say a word agin it, and, by
the wag of his tail, I understood him to be agreeable.

"Mud Lake, as you've discovered, aint very near now, and it was a good
deal farther off then. The settlements hadn't been pushed so far into
the woods then as now. But we put out, Crop and I, for Mud Lake; we
passed the eight carryin' places afore night, and reached the first
chain of ponds while the sun was hangin' like a great torch in the
tree-tops. I've seen a good many deer in my day, but the way they
stood around in those ponds, and in the shallow water of the river
below, among the grass and pond lilies, was a thing to make a man open
his eyes _some._ I saw dozens of 'em at a time, and if it didn't seem
like a sheep paster I would'nt say it. I had my pick out of the lot,
and knocked over a two-year-old for provision for me and Crop. I aint
at all poetical, but if there was ever a matter to make a man feel
like stringin' rhymes, that evenin' that Crop and I spent on the lower
chain of ponds, or little lakes on Bog River, was a thing of that
sort. The sun threw his bright red light on the tops of the mountains
away off to the East, spreading it all over the lofty peaks, like a
golden shawl, while the gorges and deep valleys around their base
rested in deep and solemn shadow. The loon spoke out clear, like a
bugle on the lakes, and his voice went echoin' around among the hills;
the frogs were out and out jolly, while the old woods were full of
happy voices and merry songs as if all nater was runnin' over with
gladness and joy; even the night breeze, as it sighed and moaned among
the tree-tops, seemed to be whisperin' to itself of the joy and
brightness and glory of such an evenin'. As the night gathered, the
moon, in her largest growth, came up over the hills and walked like a
queen up into the sky, and the bright stars gathered around her,
twinklin' and flashin' and dancin', as if merry-makin' in the